Black Latina: A Play Explores Identity, Culture and the Connections Between Black and Latino Communities
Identity, culture, and belonging are at the center of Black Latina: A Play, a nationally touring production by playwright Crystal Roman that explores the experiences of Black Latina women and the complexities of navigating race, ethnicity, and womanhood in America.
Returning to Chicago for a three-day run in partnership with Urban Theater Company, the production invites audiences to examine the connections between Black and Latino communities while confronting the stereotypes, misunderstandings, and divisions that can exist both within and between them.
Through the stories of three women, Roman creates space for conversations about colorism, hair-texture discrimination, cultural erasure, and the importance of understanding the many experiences that shape identity.
In an interview with The Beverage Library, Roman explained that the play examines what it means to navigate multiple identities while trying to find a sense of belonging.
“Black Latina: A Play is about women discussing identity from almost like three different lenses,” Roman said. “What it means to be a Black woman in America, what it means to be a Latina in America, but also what it means to be an American, and having those identities and trying to feel connected to all those parts of ourselves.”
Exploring the Layers of Identity
One of the central themes of Black Latina: A Play is the distinction between ethnicity and race, particularly when discussing the diversity of Latino communities.
“Latino is an ethnicity; it’s not a race,” Roman explained.
Latino communities include people from different racial backgrounds, including those who identify as Black or Afro-Latino. However, Roman said the experiences of Black Latinos are not always represented in broader conversations about identity.
“Those of us that are Black Latinos, whether you are African American and Latino, or whether you’re an Afro-Latino, someone who is part of the African diaspora, and their families are from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico,” she said, explaining how these identities connect people to a larger African diaspora.
“No matter what, we’re Afro-descendant people, and so we’re part of a larger global Blackness and that identity and what that means,” Roman added.
The play explores how these identities intersect with colorism, hair-texture discrimination, and cultural erasure. Roman noted that conversations about these experiences are often approached through a Black American lens, while the perspectives of Black Latinos can receive less attention.
“We often see it from a Black American lens, which is amazing, but Latinos, Black Latinos, are facing some of these identity issues as well that we don’t get to see because there’s this idea that Latinos are white,” she said.
Roman also pointed to anti-Blackness and the erasure of Black heritage in parts of Latin America as important issues that must be acknowledged.
“There’s a lot of anti-Blackness and erasure in a lot of Latin American countries,” she said.
Through the play, Roman brings these conversations into the theater, encouraging audiences to recognize that identity is not always simple or easily defined.
Three Women, Different Perspectives
At the heart of the production are three women whose contrasting viewpoints shape the play’s central conversations about oppression, accountability, and community.
Roman, who also performs in the production, described the characters as representing different ways people respond to conflict and injustice.
“You have the one friend that’s like the neutral Nancy, and we all have that one friend that just doesn’t want to pick a side because it’s just like, ‘I want to play nice with everyone,’” she said.
The other two characters approach the challenges facing their communities from opposing perspectives. One focuses on systemic oppression and the external forces that continue to affect marginalized people. The other believes communities must also examine their internal divisions and take responsibility for the biases that exist within their own groups.
Roman explained that the characters’ perspectives are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
“Neither one of those experiences are wrong, A lot of times, like you have to have this or that when the real conversation is that it’s this and that,” Roman said.
That idea becomes especially relevant as the characters reunite at a high school reunion, where memories of bullying, cultural differences, and unresolved tensions resurface.
Roman explained that the women experienced mistreatment because of their skin color, hair texture, backgrounds, and even the food they ate. Their reunion forces them to revisit those experiences and consider how they have shaped their relationships with one another.
The story also addresses the ways people can compare their hardships rather than listen to one another.
“We get a lot of external racism, but there is definitely a lot of internal racism,” Roman said.
Meet the Women Behind the Story
Performers Sophia Radix, who portrays Shanise, and Georgina Morillo, who portrays Ramona, help bring the production’s conversations about identity, belonging, and accountability to life alongside Roman.
Through their characters, the women explore how personal experiences and cultural identities influence relationships, particularly when people who share connections do not always agree on how to understand their experiences.
The play’s dialogue reflects the difficult conversations that can emerge within families, friendships, and communities when individuals hold different perspectives on discrimination and responsibility.
Rather than offering a simple resolution, the production creates room for audiences to consider the complexity of those experiences and the importance of listening.
Roman’s approach recognizes that conversations about race and identity require more than choosing sides. They also require a willingness to understand how personal history, social structures, and internal biases can shape people’s lives.
The Cultural Connections Between Black and Latino Communities
Beyond identity, Black Latina: A Play highlights cultural connections between Black and Latino communities through food, music, history, and shared traditions.
During the interview, Roman discussed the ways familiar foods can reveal deeper connections between cultures and their histories.
She pointed to ingredients such as cassava and okra, explaining that many foods associated with communities in the United States have roots and connections that extend across the African continent and Latin America.
Roman emphasized that exploring these connections can help people better understand their family histories and the movement of cultural traditions across generations.
“There’s a lot of connective tissue and a lot of the things that we have,” she said.
She encouraged people to remain curious about the origins of the traditions they practice, even when they do not know the full history of their families.
“Even if you didn’t know your family’s background and your family was here for 10 generations, there’s those little small nuances,” Roman said, pointing to cultural details that can prompt questions about where traditions began.
Music offers another example of these connections. Roman discussed the relationships among blues, jazz, country music, and spiritual hymns, tracing musical traditions to broader African influences.
She also connected the importance of cultural preservation to contemporary conversations about representation and the teaching of history.
“I think it’s important for us to tell our stories and for us to remember who we are, remember where we come from,” she said.
For The Beverage Library, these conversations reflect the broader significance of food, music, and cultural traditions as ways to explore identity, preserve heritage, and bring people together.
A History of Unity and Collective Struggle
The conversation also touched on the historical relationship between Black and Latino communities, including the connections between the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords.
These movements demonstrated how communities could organize around shared concerns while maintaining their own distinct identities and experiences.
Roman said that understanding these connections is particularly important at a time when political divisions can create distance between communities.
“I think we need to lean into our commonalities and not our differences,” she said.
She clarified that recognizing shared experiences does not mean overlooking the differences that make communities distinct.
“We can celebrate our differences, and our differences are beautiful, but there’s always a thread,” Roman said.
She also reflected on how historical narratives and cultural erasure can affect the way people understand one another. In her view, people must make a deliberate effort to learn their own histories while remaining open to the histories of others.
The play’s message is that unity does not require everyone to have identical experiences. Instead, it calls for people to recognize the connections that exist alongside their differences and to build relationships through understanding.
Roman also referenced the historical solidarity between Black and Latino activists, including the connections associated with Fred Hampton, the Black Panther Party, and the Young Lords.
Those histories provide a reminder that cooperation between communities is not new. It is part of a broader legacy of people working together around shared concerns.
Returning to Chicago With Urban Theater Company
The Chicago production is being co-produced with Urban Theater Company, an organization with deep roots in the city’s theater community.
Roman described the collaboration as a meaningful opportunity to work with people who understand the cultural context of the production and support its message.
“It’s been such a great experience to co-produce with them because they have such deep roots in this community, they have a great following in this community,” she said.
She also emphasized the importance of working in a space where artists can communicate their experiences without feeling pressured to soften or filter their perspectives.
The production previously appeared at Columbia College Chicago in 2019, and its return offers another opportunity to connect with audiences through a story centered on identity, community, and representation.
The collaboration also highlights the importance of creating theater spaces where artists of color can tell their stories while preserving the complexity and authenticity of their experiences.
Aiming for Broadway and Greater Representation
Although Black Latina: A Play continues to tour nationally, Roman has a larger goal for the production: bringing it to Broadway.
“I would love for the show to continue to tour, but also for us to have a Broadway run,” she said.
For Roman, that ambition is about more than expanding the production’s audience. It is also about increasing opportunities for women of color to lead stories on major stages and ensuring that audiences can see their experiences reflected in the arts.
Roman believes Broadway is evolving alongside the country’s changing demographics, creating opportunities for stories that reflect a wider range of communities.
“Representation is very important, and to see a show where you see women that are dominating leading roles and they look like us is really important when we think about the future, when we think about our children, and we think about the generations to come,” she said.
She also wants younger women to see their experiences represented onstage, especially those who may have struggled to articulate their feelings about identity and belonging.
Roman said the play can also resonate with older women who have spent years navigating similar questions without seeing their experiences reflected in theater.
Her goal is for the production to continue reaching audiences across the country while pursuing a Broadway run that would introduce its message to an even wider audience.
As the production continues its national tour, Roman hopes the conversations it sparks will extend beyond the theater and into families, friendships, and communities.
The play offers an opportunity to understand not only what makes communities distinct, but also the histories and traditions they share.
For Roman, telling these stories is part of ensuring that Black Latina women and other underrepresented voices have a place in the broader cultural conversation.
Follow Black Latina Movement
For more information about Black Latina: A Play, the movement behind the production, and upcoming performances, visit the official website or follow along on Instagram.
Website: www.blacklatinamovement.com
Instagram: @blacklatinamovement
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